Running head: LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW AND ANALYSIS 1

Leadership Interview and Analysis

Sara E. Read

SUNY Brockport – PRO 451

Leadership Interview and Analysis

In order to provide quality, patient-centered care, teamwork and guidance from strong

leaders is an absolute must. Strong leaders will not only guide the day to day ebb and flow of the

workplace but have the capability of helping nurses develop their own leadership skills.

Leadership skills are beneficial in relation to coordinating care effectively, delegating, resolving

conflict, making decisions, creating effective working relationships, respectful communication

and collaborating on interprofessional teams (Murray, 2017). With leadership also comes

ensuring that safe and effective care is being provided for patients. The observation and

interview experience discussed within this paper was done at a 131-bed hospital in Western New

York.

Nursing Supervisor

T.E. is a nursing supervisor for the hospital. After observation and interview, it was

shown that he wears many different hats in this position, all that require different skills and

knowledge. As the nursing supervisor, he oversees two medical-surgical floors, surgery, the ICU,

the emergency department (E.D.) and a maternity floor. His main responsibilities include

managing staffing patterns for all units after normal business hours, helping decide placement for

newly admitted patients, responding to all codes, rapid responses, stroke alerts and other

situations that require urgent attention. As nursing supervisor, he is also the senior person on site

when higher leadership is not present, most frequently during the evening and overnight shifts.

T.E. is responsible for managing situations with staff and patients alike, as well as being a

general resource for staff nurses. These are just some of the responsibilities of the nursing

supervisor, as what can happen each shift is so variable and unpredictable (T. E., personal

communication, December 3, 2018).

Leadership Qualities and Theory

When asked what type of leadership T.E. followed as nursing supervisor, his response was

“servant leadership.” Upon further discussion, T.E. explained that the idea behind this type of

leadership is that a leader is not above their followers but leads from among their followers. As a

leader, he will not ask someone to do something if he is not willing to do it himself. As a nursing

supervisor, T.E. states that he “does not feel the need to be looked at as somebody with power”

and his focus is on helping his staff to succeed each shift by offering a helping hand and being

actively involved. When asked for an example of how his leadership style is integrated into his

supervising position, T.E. states “if somebody is struggling to get an IV or even just having a bad

day, it is not below me to step in and say ‘hey, let me help you’ or ‘what can I do to make things

easier for you’; this lets them know that I am there for them and genuinely care” (T. E., personal

communication, December 3, 2018).

When observing T.E. interact on the units, he showed exactly the type of leadership that

he claimed to follow. There were no situations that I would have handled differently; even

conflicts were handled appropriately and every decision that was made had a reasonable

justification. It was very different to see a leader so actively involved, who didn’t use his power

to his advantage. Staff responded really well to T.E. and his leadership style. One thing that

stood out to me was his attentiveness to the employees. T.E. knows that one of his staff nurses on

the floor has a goal of working in the E.D. and when the census is low on the floor, has him go

work in the E.D. (T. E., personal communication, December 3, 2018). Savel and Munro (2017)

describes a servant leader as one that “is determined to remain modest, calm, and focused on

giving credit to others.” After observation, this very accurately describes T.E. as a leader.
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Non-Nursing Professional Interview. E.O., an environment services worker was

interviewed about the qualities they appreciated in a nurse leader. When discussing the qualities,

E.O. stated “I prefer a nurse leader that recognizes my job is still important even though it is not

nursing.” E.O. also talked about how she enjoys the positivity that some nurse leaders bring to

the floor when they come around and appreciates when some make her feel like a part of the

team by acknowledging who she is and asking questions about her day (E.O., personal

communication, December 3, 2018).

QSEN Competencies. Inter-professional teams are teams consisting of health-care

professionals, the patient and the patient’s family. The purpose of these teams is to work together

to provide continuous and reliable care through collaboration, communication and integration

(Murray, 2017). The inter-professional teams that operate in this facility can consist of a

physician or resident, physician’s assistant, a registered nurse, a dietician, a social worker, a

pharmacist, physical therapist or nurse practitioner, occupational therapist and respiratory

therapist. T.E. discussed that though communication between team members could sometimes be

improved, the collaboration between the team members has certainly led to optimal patient care.

He attributes the success to the size of the hospital and believes having the same people

repeatedly fill the same roles leads to better continuity of care (T. E., personal communication,

December 3, 2018).

Sherwood and Zomorodi (2014) define evidence-based practice (EBP) as delivering

optimal care by integrating the best current evidence with clinical expertise and the

preferences/values of the patient and their family. In the last year, T.E. states the beside reporting

practice has changed due to EBP. T.E. discusses the importance that is now put on beside

reporting on the units. He states that since this change, there has been an increase in
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communication between shifts and that errors and needs have been caught more quickly (T. E.,

personal communication, December 3, 2018).

Two similar unwanted variations occurred within the last year which caused a change in

practice to further improve patient outcomes and prevent these situations from happening again.

One variation was a specimen jar that was sent to the lab with no specimen in it. The second

variation was a lab sample that was incorrectly labeled and sent to the lab. A new intervention

has now been put into place between all steps of these processes. Specimen containers are

visually checked and labels are verified at each level of handoff; this can include the physician to

the nurse, the nurse to the staff transporting the lab or the transporter to the lab staff. Regardless

of who is handling the lab or specimen, verification needs to be done at each handoff. Since this

change, no unwanted variations of this type have reoccurred (T. E., personal communication,

December 3, 2018).

National Safety Guidelines are implemented in a variety of ways at this hospital. Patients

are identified two ways, using their name and date of birth to prevent wrong-patient errors.

Patients at risk for things such as flight or suicide are placed 1:1 with a staff member until it is

deemed that they are no longer at risk. T.E. discusses how blood for transfusion goes through a

two-person verification process to prevent errors. Surgical mistakes are prevented by marking the

patient’s correct site and doing a time out before incision and surgical staff is instructed to label

all medications once they are removed from their container. T.E. also discusses the importance of

a medication reconciliation when admitting a patient and that the nurses do a very thorough job.

Infection prevention (for SSI’s, CAUTI’s and PICC lines) is also a crucial topic that is widely

discussed in the hospital. The staff is educated on the infection prevention bundles and there are

policies put into place to reduce the risk for patients. During observation on the units, the Joint
LEADERSHIP INTERVIEW AND ANALYSIS 6

Commission patient safety goals are posted throughout the units, as well reminders for things

such as appropriate hand hygiene and patients who are fall risks. T.E. also states that there is

required learning modules on Health Stream for staff to keep them up to date on these safety

guidelines (T. E., personal communication, December 3, 2018).

In regard to informatics, the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in this facility is

effective but according to T.E., does have a lot of issues and room for improvement. This facility

is one of the only places to still have this EMR. Even if patients seek care from another facility

under the same integrated health system, their information is unable to be obtained through our

EMR. If patient x-rays, scans, progress notes, etc. are needed from other places, they need to be

faxed over or brought by the patient. If the patient information is unable to be accessed in a

timely fashion, this can lead to less than optimal patient care. To rectify this issue, there are plans

for updating and installing new software across the whole hospital, but this will not happen until

at least 2020 (T. E., personal communication, December 3, 2018).

Conclusion. Though there are many different types of leadership styles and theories, the

most important trait that needs to follow them is a positive efficacy with the staff. A leader

should be able to effectively guide, educate and communicate with their staff. Besides successful

interactions with other staff, a nurse leader also needs to be aware of the importance and impact

of quality and safe care and be able to ensure that their staff is providing these measures for their

patients. After interview, observation and analysis, it is apparent that T.E. encompasses all of the

important aspects of being a leader. This is shown not only by his knowledge of safety and

quality care, but with how his staff actively and appropriately responds to him.
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References

Murray, E. J. (2017). Nursing leadership and management for patient safety and quality care.

Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company.

Savel, R. H., & Munro, C. L. (2017). Servant Leadership: The Primacy of Service. American

Journal of Critical Care, 26(2), 97-99. doi:10.4037/ajcc2017356

Sherwood, G., & Zomorodi, M. (2014). A new mindset for quality and safety: The QSEN

competencies redefine nurses’ role in practice. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 41(1), 15-

22, 72. Retrieved from http://www.prolibraries.com/anna/?select=session&sessionID=2

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